The role of Late Cretaceous wrench tectonics in hydrocarbon endowment in El-Gindi Basin, northern Western Desert, Egypt

• Published in: Marine and petroleum geology 2020-02, Vol.112, p.104093, Article 104093
• Main Authors: El Ghamry, M. Naguib, El Amawy, Maher, Hagag, Wael
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Basin inversion; El-Gindi basin; Hydrocarbon maturity and trapping; Wrench tectonics
• ISSN: 0264-8172
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2019.104093

Detailed subsurface mapping and structural analysis of El-Gindi basin indicate the hydrocarbon potentiality of the Cretaceous reservoirs. El-Gindi basin is a Late Cretaceous-Eocene basin located at El-Fayium district, northeastern Western Desert of Egypt. The overwhelming impact of the Late Cretaceous wrench tectonics was evident during the inversion of the Jurassic-Early Cretaceous rift-related basins along the North Western Desert of Egypt and subsequent deposition of a thick succession of Eocene sediments (~6000 ft Apollonia Formation) within El-Gindi Basin. These tectonic events were developing the oil maturity and trapping through the Late Cretaceous reservoir sequences, Upper Bahariya Formation (Cenomanian) and the Abu Roash “G” Member (Turonian). The Gindi Fault, however, is a NW-trending basement feature breaching El-Gindi basin and bounding several deeper half grabens in the western half of El-Fayium district. It has been reactivated during the Cretaceous, Eocene and probably Oligocene-Early Miocene times, where extended northwestward to the Qarun Field at the footslopes of the Kattaniya inverted basin forming several oil traps along its strike. The Late Cretaceous dextral wrenching developed a regional system of ENE-oriented structural ridges such as Kattaniya and Silah (bounded El-Gindi basin to the north and south, respectively), associated with a series of NE-to ENE- oriented right-lateral strike-slip faults enclosing some structural closures in between. The development of such ridges causing regional subsidence and subsequent deposition of the Apollonia Formation creating several structural hydrocarbon traps. In addition, the structural closures formed between the ends of right-lateral strike-slip faults at Silah High became potential sites for hydrocarbon accumulation. The thermal maturity model of El-Gindi basin suggests a phase of hydrocarbon expulsion occurred during or immediately after deposition of the Apollonia Formation, where the Lower and Upper Cretaceous sediments passing the oil window. According to the analysis of well cores, E-logs and seismic data, shallow marine to deltaic environments have been assigned for the Cenomanian-Turonian reservoir sediments. Moreover, the deposition within channels, point-bars and estuarine environments for the hydrocarbon bearing sandstone reservoirs within El-Gindi Basin was identified. •El-Gindi basin is a Late Cretaceous-Eocene basin.•Late Cretaceous dextral-transpression developed several hydr